The present application is closely related to commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/058,276 filed Apr. 10, 1998, and Ser. No. 09/058,356 filed Apr. 10, 1998.
The present invention relates to an image recording device such as a thermal head printer which detachably installs a web roll cassette in which a rolled image recording medium or a web roll is accommodated.
A conventional image recording device that has become of practical use is a tape-shaped label printing device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,297 and Japanese Patent-Application Publication (Kokai) No. HEI-8-233675. The conventional device includes a recording device having a frame body, a keyboard, a display, and a thermal printing type recording mechanism, and a label cassette housing a recording tape and an ink ribbon. The label cassette is interchangeably mounted in a cassette accommodating section of the recording device. A thermal head prints on the recording tape via the ink ribbon, according to text characters and symbols input from the keyboard. The printed labels are appropriate for adhering to the spines of files and the like.
Conventionally, the recording tape used in these recording devices has been relatively narrow, that is, about 6-24 millimeters. Recently, however, wider recording tape is also in demand for use in signboards, as those used in giving directions or stating prices.
For this reason, the inventors of the present invention proposed a recording device construction as described in the above two copending U.S. patent applications. The copending applications disclose an image recording device having a detachable web roll cassette in which a rolled web sheet is accommodated. The device includes a frame body having a web roll cassette insertion port, a web roll cassette accommodating portion, and a web sheet passage extending from the web roll cassette accommodating portion in a sheet feeding direction. The device also includes a web roll cassette, a sheet feeding unit including a drive roller and a pinch roller for nipping the web sheet therebetween, and a print head for printing the image on the web sheet fed by the sheet feed unit. The web roll cassette includes an upper and lower cases accommodating therein a web roll at one side and defining a front end discharge portion at another side directing toward the web sheet passage. The upper and lower cases are formed with through holes at a position adjacent the front end discharge portion. The drive roller and the pinch roller are respectively positioned at the through holes.
The drive roller and the pinch roller are movable toward and away from the web sheet to perform selective contact therewith. To this effect, a pivot mechanism is provided to move the front end discharge portion of the web roll cassette toward a proper printing position. The drive roller is provided to the pivot mechanism, so that the drive roller is moved toward the pinch roller when the web roll cassette is set to its printing posture. When the web roll cassette is moved to its correct printing posture, the drive roller and the pinch roller nip therebetween the web sheet at the front end discharge portion of the web roll cassette.